Television systems are presently available having standard display devices (e.g., monitors) sized to display 4×3 aspect ratio video images (referred to hereinafter as “standard” images) and widescreen display devices sized to display video images that are wider then the standard 4×3 aspect ratio (referred to herein as “widescreen” images). Presently, both standard images and widescreen images are publicly available. For example, the television industry commonly broadcasts television signals having a standard aspect ratio and the motion picture industry commonly distributes motion pictures having an aspect ratio of 16×9 or greater.
A signal processing device processes the video images for display by the display devices. Frequently, the signal processing device and the display device are separate components. In this type of system, to optimally display video images on the video display, the signal processing device must receive the aspect ratio of the video display. Presently, an operator manually supplies the aspect ratio to the signal processing device during a conventional set-up routine. If the supplied aspect ratio is incorrect, the signal processing device will be unable to tailor the video image to the particular video display on which it will be displayed. Thus, image quality may be degraded.
Several different formats are available for displaying a video image on a display device having a different aspect ratio than the video image. These formats include a letter/pillar box format and a full/zoom format. In a letter/pillar box format, inactive areas (e.g., black bars) surround the active video image. When displaying a widescreen image on a standard display, the black bars are present above and below the widescreen image (i.e., letterbox format). When displaying a standard image on a widescreen display, black bars are present on the left and right of the standard image (i.e., pillar box format).
In a full format, the active video image is stretched to fill the entire display device. Stretching the active video image causes distortion, e.g., circles appear as ovals. In a zoom format the active video image is enlarged to fill the entire display device. The enlarged active video image is then cropped to fit the display device.
Depending on the display size of the display device, different formats are needed to optimally view a video image having a different aspect ratio than the display device. For example, the letter/pillar box may be optimal for larger display devices, e.g., a display device having a diagonal size of 32 inches, since these display devices can produce an active image that is viewable comfortably without distortion or loss of any portion of the active image. On the other hand, the full/zoom format may be optimal on smaller display devices, e.g., a display device having a diagonal size of 13 inches, since an active image produced in letter/pillar box format may be too small for comfortable viewing. Presently, the viewer is required to select the display format. This is burdensome to the viewer and may result in the selection of a non-optimal format.
Accordingly, methods, systems, and apparatus are needed to optimally configure a signal processing device for use with a display device. The present invention fulfils this need among others.